First student thankful for FGCU's impact on her life

Mariana Coto James recalls scant facilities, one-on-one teaching in early days

Editor's Note:This is one in a series of stories about Florida Gulf Coast University and its 10th anniversary. The Daily News will examine the environmental, economic and social impacts of the state's 10th university on Southwest Florida, culminating with a special section coming Monday.

Mariana Coto James remembers well the portable classroom on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus where a decade ago students not only ate and studied but also checked out library books.

"That first year, there were two main buildings. They didn't even have a cafeteria or library. All we had was that portable," she said.

Mariana made history in August 1997 when she became the first student to enroll at FGCU. She and the university's first president, Roy McTarnaghan, had their pictures taken together during the school's groundbreaking.

"At the time, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I didn't know FGCU would become what it is today," she said. "Now it's really, really exciting to know I was the first."

Mariana, whose last name was Coto at the time, just happened to be the kind of student McTarnaghan wanted to target.

The first president remembered his first student.

"Coto was a Barron Collier High School grad who had a young child," McTarnaghan, 74, recalled as he sat in the school's newly expanded library during a recent interview. "She was not only the first student, but she epitomized the kind of student we were trying to reach."

Mariana, who grew up in Naples and attended Collier County public schools, had a job and a child when she enrolled at FGCU. So she took some evening classes, weekend courses and even online classes to graduate in 2001 from the nursing program with a bachelor of science degree.

"I liked it because it was flexible and I could work during the day," she said.

She remembers that her classes were small.

"Everybody knew each other," she said. "You could get one-on-one time with the professors if you needed extra help. I remember before the RN test, they let me study with the professors for hours."

Mariana, now 28, is a nurse at Florida Hospital. She lives in Orlando with her husband and two children. She makes upward of $50,000 a year as a progressive care nurse in the cardiac unit, where she is the assistant nurse manager.

She's thankful for those who fought so hard to get the university opened in Southwest Florida.

"I don't know what I would have done if they weren't there," she said, speaking directly to the founders. "Thank you, for giving me the opportunity to be where I am now. I am happy that people like me can get places if they have the opportunity."